In the course of a single week, everything Sam Reeves believed in, everything he knew, everyone he trusted, all would be put on the line. For a family he never knew he had.

Detective Sam Reeves, a 34-year-old martial arts instructor, has a solid fifteen-year record as a good police officer with the Portland Police Department. For the first time, Sam is forced to take a life in the line of duty and despite the findings of “good shoot” he struggles to recuperate psychologically from the killing. Facing up to his fears Sam returns to work and then within days is forced to fire his weapon again— killing two more people.

With his spirit almost broken, Sam meets a stranger … a man who claims to be his father. “Impossible,” Sam reasons—his father died in a North Vietnamese prison camp … a long time ago.

This odd man, named Samuel, is as convincing as he is quirky and is revealed to be a phenomenal martial artist, the likes of which Detective Sam Reeves has never encountered. This ‘Samuel' comes out of nowhere, equipped with a family in Vietnam and a daughter named Mai who is about to graduate from Portland State University.

With a series of interlocked events of violence: a revenge-seeking uncle, the destruction of his martial arts school, his new father's connection to some lethal Vietnamese outlaws, Sam's life spirals into a dreadful new direction. This high-octane martial arts thriller will have you gripped from the start.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Loren Christensen, a great warrior-wordsmith and author of nearly 50 books, has turned his hand to fiction― and it's a knockout! A searing, powerful, and ultimately uplifting book. If you like Tom Clancy or Brad Thor, you'll love Loren Christensen!Christensen is the Joseph Wambaugh for our age. Wambaugh is a former a cop who uses his experience to write powerful, bestselling police novels. Christensen is a career cop and a world-class martial arts trainer and champion, who has turned his experiences into a unique brand of kung-fu cop novels that will knock your socks off!" (Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, Author of On Combat)

About the Author

Loren W. Christensen began his law enforcement career in 1967 as a Military Policeman (Army). He joined the Portland (Oregon) Police Bureau in 1972, retiring in 1997. During his years on PPB, he worked street patrol, child abuse, dignitary protection, Intelligence, street gangs, and in the training unit.

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By the time I realized I had no hope of following the martial arts moves I was so invested in Sam’s dukkha it didn’t matter. This is a wham bam thank you ma’am roller coaster of a thriller that packs an emotional wallop such as few do. Particularly in the first half of the book where we get to know Sam from the inside out. Full disclosure of the “it’s not you it’s me” variety? The archetypal perfection of Sam’s just discovered Yoda-esque dad and a new love interest whose beauty and prowess is exceeded only by her virtue, kind of stuck in my gorge. Especially because of the fearless, bone deep portrayals that precede them. But hey, that’s probably on me not the author. Won’t stop me from reading more in the series.

If there's one thing that I've come to appreciate about a number of writers, it's that it's very difficult to craft practical characters in a real-world setting, and then, in turn, make them three-dimensional. It would instead, be much easier to write this character as the token "good guy", that one as the "love interest", and move things along just to keep the story rolling. In the case of Dukkha: The Suffering, however, Loren W. Christensen manages to buck this particular trend. He not only makes the characters nuanced, but the plot, as well.

Were I to open up a book with the underlying subtitle of "The Suffering", I would imagine that it's full of angst, and pain, and the fury of a thousand suns, and, while Sam Reeves, the main protagonist goes through all of these things.. they don't define him. Even when things are at their worst, and you know that he's at the end of his rope, he refuses to roll over and give into a 'poor, pitiful me' monologue.

At the same time, however, nor is Sam a superhuman that's lacking a shred of empathy or remorse--If there's one thing that I've gleaned from a number of would-be comic-book and fictional characters, it's that most of them are borderline sociopaths... able to contend with pain, and loss, and trauma, and the next day they're whistling a happy tune while animated birds and bees swirl around them .This is *not* the case with Sam Reeves.

Mr. Christensen somehow manages to find that thin, dividing line between 'fictional writing' and 'writing a real character in fiction'. During the course of the novel, Sam has gone through a number of very difficult trials and tribulations and, while they do define aspects of his personality, they do not define *him*. In a way, how he contends with difficulty is a reflection on early insights he shares with himself while training with his students in a dojo. Or, to put it more simply, a close friend of mine that went through a horrible, personal experience narrowed it down, this way--"I refuse to let a series of brief moments change who I am, fundamentally, as a person."

Sam is that same sort of person... he wrestles with his demons, he has limitations and short-comings... he's not Batman, or Superman--He's been trained to take care of himself both personally and professionally, and at the same time, he makes mistakes. He is fundamentally flawed, but then again, who isn't? It helps to make Sam more relatable as a character, and as a person: He hesitates, he second-guesses, he makes mistakes, and, in a handful of instances, he's haunted by them. These don't take away from his character but instead, at least I feel, they add to it.

Furthering that view, Sam is in short turn introduced to a family that he never knew he had, and, in a way, their own trials and tribulations compound with his own. Rather than duck his head down with a "Sorry, thanks but no thanks", Sam instead decides to take them on, himself. As no man is an island, so too with Sam Reeves and those close to him.

What I find the most interesting about this book is how Mr. Christensen clearly ties in experience as an officer, and a trained martial-artist in a realistic fashion. Yes, there are aspects of the plot and character-development as well as ability that would push the limits of 'proper respectability', but at the same time, we can't know everything under the sun. There's not really a way of pointing a definitive finger and saying, 'That's impossible!' ... because really? Nothing's impossible. At the same time, it's fiction. Sit back, and enjoy the ride!

A final note I'd like to put out here, last but I certainly hope not least, is that Mr. Christensen is able to write his action-scenes in a manner that both outline and center us upon the fact that this author has real-world experience when it comes to martial-arts, self-defense, and other such tactics--It's written in such a way that it doesn't feel dumbed down to the 'lowest common denominator', yet at the same time it gives you glimpses at just what's going on. Close your eyes, picture it in your head, and it's visceral, and it's effective. No showboating, no long stances or the like... this is about going to the mat, with the kid-gloves off.

The bottom line is this: Dukkha is NOT a "no-holds-barred action-fest", nor should you expect it to be. It's intelligent, it's insightful, it's introspective. There are pauses in the action that allow for character-development, and for the plot to move along without feeling like somebody off-panel is poking it with a stick to get it moving. This is one of those rare novels where, rather than the action supporting the plot, the action instead moves it along and *enriches* the plot. For anybody looking for a thrilling read that will have you turning pages while you wonder what's going on, while you witness characters evolve, and grow, and expound... look no further than Dukkha: The Suffering.

Make no mistake, you'll be able to tell shortly that not only does Loren W. Christensen know his stuff, he doesn't bog you down with twenty pages of step-by-step breakdowns of how it's done. It's delivered concisely, clearly, and with no frills. ... take it as you will, but I enjoyed it from start to finish and, when I was done for the first time at that point, I was left grumbling at the fact that the second book hadn't come out, yet.

I just finished reading Loren Christensen's book Dukkha on my Kindle. Now, I normally don't read fiction and so I had trouble getting into it for the first chapter or so. At first the protagonist didn't seem believable. Then as soon as the book swerved into its first snafu situation it took off and was a real page turner (or button clicker, seeing that I was reading it on a Kindle). From that moment on I was pretty much able to suspend disbelief and really get into the story, something as I said I normally don't do with fiction unless I'm reading Travanian, Tom Clancy or Shogun.

I have to say, this is book gives the best experiential description of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) I've come across. For readers who've suffered through this condition, these parts of the book may reawaken elements of your past symptoms. Be forewarned. Don't avoid reading the book because of this, but be mentally prepared.

For folks who haven't read the book yet: if you like action and suspense, this is your book. If you like a little romance along with a bit of spice and heat, you'll find enough of that as well. If you enjoy a little bit of wacked-out humor mixed in with brief philosophical reflectiveness, you'll feel right at home reading this book.

There are enough twists and turns in this story to make a formula race car driver dizzy.

I am a fan of this genre, including Barry Eisler's work (particularly John Rain), Robert Crais's Joe Pike, John Donohue's Connor Burke, Mark Greaney's Gray Man, Lee Child's Jack Reacher, Brett Battles's Jonathan Quinn, etc. So I purchased this book under the mistaken impression it was a similar novel and because (at the time of purchase) it had 57 reviews that were either 4 or 5 stars, and only two negative reviews.

I should have read the two negative reviews because after grinding through 122 pages of Dukkha, I realize they are spot on.

Granted, some might say I'm being unnecessarily critical of a book I haven't finished, but I am 1/4 of the way through it, and the thought of reading any more of it feels like, well, "Dukkha." I gave it 122 pages to get me interested, but Chapter 7 starts off with this line: "Fifteen hours later, I awaken feeling like warmed-over yak crap. I stagger into the bathroom, whiz, and assess that the little finger on my right hand, and the hair in my ears are the only things that don't hurt." That was the last in a long line of similar prose where I had to draw the line. It's the first time I think I've ever just bailed out on a book.

I try not to be a negative person, and I am sure Christensen is a better non-fiction writer, but this is just not good. I don't leave negative reviews unless I feel strongly about it, or I feel there is something misleading in amazon's rating system. Here, something is just off. This is not a 5 star book. It's not really a two star book, but if I gave it a one star someone would think I'm a cop hater or a liberal or just don't like the author. None of that is true, and quite the opposite. Life is just too short to struggle through a book like this. Hopefully I'll save someone else some time and $12.95.